A group of Allentown residents who oppose Mayor Ed Pawlowski's plan to lease city water and sewer systems will submit a petition for a referendum today in support of voter oversight on such deals.

Organizer Dan Poresky said the group has collected 4,000 signatures in support of a referendum that would ask voters if they want the right to weigh if the city moves to sell or lease an asset over $10 million. Petitioners were out in force on election day, collecting several thousand signatures at polling places across the city. Only 2,000 signatures were required for the referendum.

The earliest that the question could appear on ballots would be the May 2013 primary -- after the proposed lease is expected to be approved -- but organizers hope to send a message to council by submitting the signatures before a decision is made, Poresky said.

"That only 30 circulators collected these 4,000 signatures shows that
Allentonians are simply against this deal," he said in a news release.
"Nearly everyone we spoke with is against this deal."

The petition will be delivered to City Clerk Mike Hanlon at 1 p.m. in City Hall. A news conference will be held beforehand.

Pawlowski has proposed leasing the city's water and sewer systems to a private operator for 50 years in exchange for an upfront payment of $150 to $200 million. That money would be used toward the city's underfunded pension plan.

Allentown City Council is expected to make a decision on the lease before the end of 2012.

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